Pole feeding mechanism



April 24, 1945.

J. R. HAYES ET AL POLE FEEDING MECHANISM Filed April 17, 1943 3 She ets-Sheet l Snnentors Jabp 0. F jgy (lttorncg m WWW N April 24, I J R HAYES ET AL I POLE FEEDING MECHANl SM Filed April 17, 1 943 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 3nnentor John 2 Hayes John .0. Foley (Ittorneg A ril 24, 1945.

J. R. HAYES ET AL POLE FEEDING MECHANISM Filed April 17, 1943 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 3nventor Ja/m .8 Hiya: Ja/m .0. Foley Gttomeg.

sively.

Patented Apr. 24, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 FEESZZZ SIZECHANISM La assignors toLincoln Greosoting Company IncorporateiBossier City,,La., a corporation .r r 02 Louisiana Application April 17, 1943, Serial No. 483,502

' 5' Claims. (c1.1.44 24s) Our invention relates to reedingfmechanisms and more specifically to pole feeding mechanisms processing machines. i i

We are fully aware of the state or the art'of for use with post sizing machines and other pole feeder mechanisms used in the lumber industry to which our invention most nearly relates.

These prior art feeding mechanisms serve well the purpose for whichthey weredeveloped. that is the pushing of flat sided timbers. We discovered, however, that these prior art feeding mechanisms would not meetthe demands of our special need, that of a machine capable of feeding small round logs into a sizing machine in the manufacture of fence postsand other poles. As many of the logs encountered in the manufacture of fence posts are crooked and haveshort limb sections left on them, the situation demanded not only the creation of a machine that would grip logs on their roundbark surfaces butone that would also .adjust itself to the curvature lengt wise and the condition of logs with limb sections. i i J H 1 An object ofour invention is to provide a pole feeding mechanism that will grip the sides of a poleandmove it progressively. l

I Another object of our invention is to provide apole feeding mechanism that includes an. ad-

justing feature to enable it to maintain its grip onwa curved fence post while moving it progres- Another object of our invention is to provide a pole feeding mechanism suitable for the hans dling of'logs with short limb sections left on and one adapted-to strip the limb sections from the our ole feeding mechanism.

logs whilethe feeding mechanism moveszthem progressively. L l

In the business of manufacturing fence posts of the round type, smallsections of smallsized cation hasbeen put into actual use in the manufacture of fence posts andhas been found to suecessiully handle the three types or. rough stock,

the straight section of log thecrooked"section of log, and sections of logswithlimb sections retained. i i

It is to be understood, however, that our invention is not to be limited to its illustrated and explained use in the manufacture of fence posts;

for itmay be redesigned without departing from of timber, boards and the like.

In the drawings:

the scope of our invention to-handle other types Figure 1 is a plan view of our pole feeding mechanism showing it in anoperating position feeding a pole into a pole sizing machine.

Figure 2 is an enlarged plan view of our pole feeding mechanism.

Figure 3 is a broken elevation view or our pole feeding mechanism looking at the receiving side Figure 6 is a diagrammatic plan view of our pole feeding mechanism.

Figure 7 is another diagrammatic plan view of Figure 9 is an elevation" view of the modified form of our pole feeding mechanism illustrated in Figure 8.

Figure 10 is an enlarged view of aportion of the modified form of our pole feeding mechanism illustrated inFiguro, 8 andFigure 9 and, i

Figure 11 is a diagrammatic plan view of our modified form of polereeding mechanism illustrating its mode oioperation.

Referring to Figure 1 oithe drawings, numera l designatesgenerallyia supporting plate member of our pole feedingmechanism over which a pole P is shown being advanced toa pole Sizer T. i

The left hand end of the pole P is supported by a support roller 5. The sizer T is turned by means of a belt 18 connected toa source of power not shown. 'At the righthand side of Figure. 1

a finished pole F is shown in a position'where it is about to -leave a pair of gr ipping rollers G. We use letters to designate the illustrated mechanisms which form no part of our invention but serve to show its relationship to one type of machine with which it is used.

The'supporting plate member! carrying the movable parts of our pole feeding ,mechanismis i supported about waist highhymeans of two pairs of support legs -2 boltedto the supporting plate member I by means of machine bolts 3 and fastened down to heavy sills M by means of lag bolts 4. Our pole feeding mechanism is propelled by a drive chain connected to a source of power not shown. The drive chain 5 turns the driven sprocket 6 and the splined driving tube I to which it is keyed and into the ends of which the right hand splined driven shaft 8 and the left hand splined driven shaft 9 are slidably fitted. The left hand gear housing III is shown broken to show the driving gears. The arrangement of the drivinggears inside the right hand gear housing. II is a duplicate ofthe left hand arrangement in which numeral I2 designates the left hand driving sprocket and I3 designates the left hand driven sprocket. The left hand chain stud I4 is keyed to the left hand driven sprocket I3 and turns with it. The left hand chain stud I4 extends through a slot in the supporting plate member I. This slot is made only slightly wider than the left hand chain stud I4 to permit the left hand chain stud I4 to move only lengthwise in the slot. Theleft hand chain stud I4 also extends'through a hole in the left hand chain plate I5 which hole serves as a bearing for it to turn in.

A retaining plate. I6 is rigidly fastened to the left hand chain stud I4 in position abutting the lower side of the supporting plate member I to prevent the left hand chain stud I4 from moving upwardly.

A pole chain driving sprocket I! is keyed to the left hand chain stud I4, above the left hand chain plate I5 for the purpose of moving the left hand endless pole chain I8 around the driving sprocket I'I, forwardidling sprocket I9 on idling stud 20, by the guide 22 and around the rear idling sprocket 23 on the idling stud 24. The retaining plate 2I prevents the idling stud from moving upwardly and the retaining plate 25 prevents the idling stud 24 from moving upwardly.

On the right hand side, of our pole feeding mechanism the driving power is carried upwardly through the right hand chain stud 34 which extends through a slot only slightly wider than the chain stud 34. We employ a retaining plate 36 on the right hand chain stud 34 and a retaining plate 4| on the right forward idling stud and a retaining plate on the right rear idling stud 44.

The right hand pole chain 38 functions in the same way as the-left hand pole chain I8. It is driven by the right hand chain stud 34.

The purpose of the slots extended through the supporting plate member I mentioned above is to permit the right and left hand chain assemblies to move inwardly and outwardly over the supporting plate member I while permitting them to turn a limited distance allowed for by the wider slots through which the idling studs I9, 24, 40 and 44 extend. These motions of the chain assemblies permit them to assume the angular positions shown in Figure 6 and Figure 'I of the drawings. The right and left hand chain assemblies are urged inwardly by means of weights. The left hand chain assembly is urged inwardly by the left hand weight attached to the end of the left weight arm 5| also attached to a rotatably mounted left hand throw disc 52. A left hand thrust rod 53 is pivoted to the left hand throw disc 52 a short distance out from its center of rotation, The left hand thrust rod 53 is also connected to the left hand gear housing ID.

x The right hand chain assembly moving meansis a duplicate of the above described left hand chain assembly moving means. In the right hand chain assembly moving means numeral designates the right hand weight shown connected to the end of the right hand weight arm 6| which is connected to the right hand throw disc 82 which is connected to the right hand thrust rod 63.

To move thechain assemblies outwardly the left hand weight 50 and the right hand weight fifl'must be lifted. In practice, however, one pole I after another is fed through our pole feeding mechanism so closely together that the chain assemblies are kept spread apart. The chain assemblies wil1-open up of their own accord to take hold of a pole P because of the allowance made for such movement by the larger slots through which the idling studs extend.

chain mechanisms apart.

- mechanisms.

The enlarged view (Fig. 5) of a section of pole chain is a section of the left hand pole chain I8, but it serves also as an illustration of the right hand pole chain 38 which is a duplicate of the left hand pole chain I8. The type of chain used is a propelling chain in common use in the lumber industry except for the V shaped cleats 3| which we fasten to the lugs 32 of the chain I8 in place of the-usual wooden cleats attached to such lugs. We provide saw teeth 33 on the cleats 3| to better adapt them to grip the side of a pole P.

In Figure 4 we show an optional form of chain assembly moving device in which a single weight I0 is employed to move both the right hand and left hand chain assemblies toward each other. The weight I0 is attached t a weight arm II which is attached to a rotatable disc I3. On a diameter through the axis of rotation of the ro-.

tatable disc I3 at equal distances from the center of rotation both a pull rod I4 connected to the left hand gear housing Ill and a thrust rod 15 connected to the right hand gear housing II are attached. By this arrangement the weight I0 causes the pull rod I4 to pull the left hand gear housing II] to the right while the right handgear housing II is pushed to the left by the thrust rod 15.

This last described chain moving mechanism is easier to operate in that only one weight I0 need be lifted by the operator in order to move the However, it is not as good as the first described double weighted chain moving mechanism in that it does not permit independent movements of the separate chain Where straight poles P are being handled this objection is not serious, but where crooked poles P (Figs. 6, 7 and 11 respectively) or other ill shaped poles such as poles P, P" and P are being handled the first described double weighted chain moving mechanism is superior.

The modification of our invention illustrated by Figure 8, Figure 9, Figure 10, and Figure 11 relates to a pole gripping means to be used in substitution for the left hand endless pole chain I8 and the right hand endless pole chain 38. It is to be understood that the same driving means to the rear left The right front impeller wheel II I] and the right rear impeller wheel III are driven by the right hand driving chain I I2 which is moved by the right hand driving stud I I3.

The left hand driving stud I82 and the right hand driving stud I I3 are both provided with retaining plates H4 and the. idling studs on which lthe impeller wheels areImounted are also provided with retaining plates I I4.,

The vanes I20 of the impeller wheels serve similar function to the afore described cleats 3|. The

vanes I20 are held in slots I22 of the hub I2I of the front left impeller wheel I by means of cup shaped washers I23 the edges of which fitinto grooves I24 in the vanes I2 U,as see Figure 10.

said driving sprockets being extended through longitudinal slots in the said supporting plate,

drivenpinions being mounted on the studs of the said driving sprockets below the said supporting plate, a pole engaging drivingmeans adapted to drive both pole engaging means including a pair of horizontally extended driving shafts, driving pinions mounted on ends of the driving shafts,

said driving pinions being enmeshed with the said driven pinions to turn the same, said driving shafts being arranged in alignment with each The cup shapedwashers I23 are held in place by means of clampingnuts I25 threadedly engaged to the idling stud I95. By means of this mode of assembly the vanes I20 may be readily removed and replaced, As the other impeller wheels are duplicates of the front left impellerwheel I00 just described, their detailed descriptions are omitted. The vanes I20 make contactwith the pole P and shove it the same as did the cleats 3|. This modified form of pole feeding mechanism as,

shown in Figure 11 is especially adapted for the handling of sections of timber with limb sections left on in the rough trimming operations they receive in the forest. Where such poles P are handled they are fed into our modified pole feeding mechanism with the small end first, the reverse of the usual practice. We feed such poles P' in this manner so that their limb fragments.

L will enter in between vanes I20 of the impeller wheels and be broken off by the vanes I20 as the pole P' is moved along. If the first pair of impeller wheels, the front left impeller wheel I00 and the front right impeller wheel III], do not break all of the limb fragments L off the pole P', it may be turned a quarter of a turn to permit the I gagingcleatshaving V-shaped openings adapting I the cleats to grip rounded surfaces.

3. The device as claimed in claim 1 wherein I impeller wheels are mounted on the said driven studs, said impeller wheels including radiallyextending impeller vanes having V "shaped openings adapting the said vanesto grip rounded surfaces. 4. The device as claimed in claim 1 being pro vided with a pair of gear housings to enclose the driven pinions and the driving pinions and to provide bearings for thedriving'shafts and the driving pinions and wherein the means for moving the pole engaging means to and from each other comprises a pair of. rotatable throw discs, each of said throw discs being provided with a rod pivoted to it at a short distance from its axis of rotation, each of said rods being connected to a gear housing, each of said throw discs havback pair of impeller wheels, left rear impeller wheel IllI and the right rear impeller wheel I II to complete the stripping operation. 3

While the preferred form of our pole feeding mechanism also functions as a stripping means, it is not as emcient in this respect as our modified form of pole feeding mechanism.

Having thus described our invention, we claim: I

1. A pole feeding mechanism comprising a frame including a horizontally extended support- I ing plate, a pair of rotatable pole engaging means including base members slidably mounted on the said supporting plate in line with and opposed to each other, each of said pole engaging means including a driving sprocket and a driven sprocket I mounted on studs rotatably mounted on each base member, each of said pole engaging means including a driving chain extending from the driving sprocket to the driven sprocket, the studs of the inga weight arm extending from it along its side face in anon-vertical direction and weights fastened to the weight arms a substantial distance from the axis of rotation of the said discs.

'5. The device as claimed in claiml being pro- I vided with a pair of gear housings to enclose the driven pinions and thedriving pinions and to provide bearings for the driving shafts and the driving pinions and wherein the means for moving the pole engaging means to and from each other comprises a rotatable throw disc, a pair of rods pivotably mounted on a diameter of the said throw disc on opposite sides of the axisof rotation of the said throw disc, each of said rods being also connected to'a gear housing, a weight arm ex- I tending from the said throw disc along one of its side faces in a non-vertical direction and a weight fastened to the weight arm a substantial distance from the axis of rotationof the said throw disc. II JOHN R. HAYES. JOHN D. FOLEY. 

